MENIFEE: Four vie to fill trustee vacancy

Four people, including three former school board members, have applied to fill a vacancy on the Menifee Union School District board of trustees.

Former Menifee Union school board members Phoeba Irey and Rita Peters, former Perris Union High trustee Eric Kroencke and Bryan Brown, a teacher at Temeculaâs Chaparral High School, will interview for the position at a special school board meeting Monday, Jan. 7.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and interviews with the candidates are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., said district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus. Following the interviews, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to speak. The board is expected to select a new trustee following the public comments.

The vacancy occurred when Scott Mann resigned last month to become mayor of Menifee. The person selected will serve until November, when an election will be held to fill the remaining two years of Mannâs term. Three other board seats also are up for election in November.

Under California law, the board must make an appointment or call for a special election within 60 days of a trusteeâs resignation. The school board chose to appoint someone because a special election would have cost $100,000 or more.

Brown is an English teacher at Chaparral. Irey, a retired teacher, served on the Menifee board from 2004 to 2008, when she lost a bid for re-election. Peters, who lives in Quail Valley, served on the board for 13 years, but lost her bid for re-election in 2011 and was replaced by Mann.

Kroencke served on the Perris Union High School District board from 2005 to 2012. He was unable to run for re-election last year after the Perris district switched from at-large elections to elections by trustee area. Kroencke lives in the same area as another Perris Union trustee and that term doesnât expire until 2014.

The new Menifee trustee is expected to be sworn in and begin serving at the boardâs next regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8.

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